The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine having extended functions such as memory copying, a facsimile, and a printer, in addition to normal copying.
Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine has extended functions such as memory copying, a facsimile, and a printer, other than normal copying.
In extending the function in this manner, a page memory board serving as an image page memory, a facsimile board capable of facsimile-transmission/reception, a printer board serving as a printer interface for receiving printing data from a personal computer, and an HDD board capable of magnetically storing a large amount of data are mounted as optional boards, as needed. In this manner, the function can be extended.
In this image forming apparatus, however, the flow of image data remains unchanged upon connecting various optional boards, and the data flow is often not optimal.